Socket wrench for football shoe cleats having loosely mounted gripping plates



March 8, 1966 R. B. SNOW 3,238,323

SOCKET WRENCH FOR FOOTBALL SHOE CLEATS HAVING LOOSELY MOUNTED GRIPPING PLATES Filed June 18, 1964 FIGZ INVENTOR ROBERT B. SNOW ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,238,823 SUCKET WRENCH FOR FOOTBALL SHOE CLEATS HAVENG LOOSELY MOUNTED GRIPPHNG FLATES Robert B. Snow, 956 Pleasant St., Stougliton, Mass. Filed June 18, 1964, Ser. No. 376,176 2 Claims. (Cl. 81179) This invention relates to a socket wrench for screwing cleats onto the soles of football shoes and unscrewing cleats therefrom. Cleats for football shoes are generally of frusto-conioal shape and are made of hard rubber, nylon or other plastic such as a polyurethane, and sometimes of a light metal such as aluminum. As it is irnportant that cleats be firmly secured to the shoe, it is necessary to use considerable force to screw them tightly on the threaded studs which support them. By the same token, considerable force is usually required to start the unscrewing operation when a cleat is to be removed from a shoe. To apply such torques by means of a wrench, there must be a non-sli engagement of the cleat by the wrench. For this purpose various devices are employed such as a polygonal base for the cleat to be fitted by a wrench having a polygonal socket. According to the present invention, a socket wrench is provided which is capable of gripping the conical wall of almost any football cleat of frusto-conioal form with negligible marking of the gripped surface, thus making it independent of any particular configuration of the cleat. The improved wrench was designed for use on cleats of poly urethane but has been found to be effective on cleats of the other materials of which cleats are commonly made.

As hereinafter described in detail, the improved wrench has a socket recess within which are mounted two opposed pieces with knurled faces, these pieces being capable of a slight movement relative to the socket walls so that when the wrench is applied to a cleat and turned, the pieces are caused to grip the surface of the cleat so that slipping is avoided.

For a more complete understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following description thereof, and to the drawing, of which FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a wrench embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a section, on a larger scale, on the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a section on the line 3--3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an elevational View of one of the grip ping plates in the wrench; and

FIGURE 5 is an exploded perspective view of the wrench shown in FIGURE 1.

The wrench is preferably made of steel for strength and is composed of a number of parts most of which are permanently secured together.

The body of the wrench has a cylindrical portion 12 and a somewhat tapered portion 14 of smaller diameter. The cylindrical portion 12 is hollow with a cylindrical bore 16 at the free end of the body, reducing to a smaller cylindrical bore 18. This smaller bore reduces to a still smaller bore 20 in the tapered portion 14 into which the knurled end portion 22 of the stem 24 of a T-shaped handle 26 is firmly driven.

In the open end of the body 10 two parallel segmental slots 30 are formed. In each slot 30 is a loose steel plate 32 which is slightly shorter and narrower than the slot in which it is located, as illustrated in FIGURE 2. The ends of the plates 32 are preferably rounded in accordance with the curvature of the adjacent portions of the outer surface of the cylindrical portion 12 of the body 10. To keep the plates 32 loosely assembled with the body 10, a sleeve 36 with an inturned flange 38 is press-fitted on the free end portion of the body 10, the width of the flange 38 being suflicient to retain the plates 32 in their slots 30, but not suflicient to obstruct the bore 16 which is designed to receive a frusto-c-onical cleat.

The inwardly facing surface 40 of each plate 32 is preferably knurled as shown in FIGURE 4 and a series of narrow channels 42 parallel to the axis of the body 10 are cut in the face 40. When this wrench is pressed upon a football shoe cleat, some of the sharp points and edges formed by the knurling and the channels 42 on the faces of the plates 32 dig into the flanks of the cleat, and the plates 32 shift slightly into the binding engagement with the cleat so that torque imposed on the wrench is transmitted to the cleat without slippage.

I claim:

1. A socket wrench for football shoe cleats comprising a hollow cylindrical body open at one end to receive a frusto-conical football shoe cleat, said body having two parallel transverse slots in the wall thereof near the open end intersecting said hollow, a plate loosely mounted in each said slot, said plates having mutually opposed knurled faces with series of narrow channels therein parallel to the axis of the body, and means for applying torque to said body.

2. A socket wrench for football shoe cleats comprising a cylindrical body having a central bore and two parallel slots intersecting said bore and equally spaced from the axis thereof, a cylindrical sleeve fitted around said body and closing the ends of said parallel slots, a plate loosely mounted in each said slots, said plates being shorter and narrower than the slots and having their ends rounded, each said plate presenting a knurled face to the other, and means for applying torque to said body.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 531,715 1/1895 Brown 81-128 906,408 12/1908 Goodridge 81120 X 1,127,836 2/1915 Whalen etal 81-120 1,483,110 2/1924 Pearce et al 81179 2,574,834 11/1951 Leonard 81180 X 2,667,095 1/ 1954 Manchester 8190 FOREIGN PATENTS 111,800 12/1917 Great Britain. 187,445 10/1922 Great Britain.

WILLIAM FELDMAN, Primary Examiner. MILTON S. MEHR, Examiner. 

1. A SOCKET WRENCH FOR FOOTBALL SHOE CLEATS COMPRISING A HOLLOW CYLINDRICAL BODY OPEN AT ONE END TO RECEIVE A FRUSTO-CONICAL FOOTBALL SHOE CLEAT, SAID BODY HAVING TWO PARALLEL TRANSVERSE SLOTS IN THE WALL THEREOF NEAR THE OPEN END INTERSECTING SAID HOLLOW, A PLATE LOOSELY MOUNTED IN EACH SAID SLOT, SAID PLATES HAVING MUTUALLY OPPOSED KNURLED FACES WITH SERIES OF NARROW CHANNELS THEREIN PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF THE BODY, AND MEANS FOR APPLYING TORQUE TO SAID BODY. 